London's data-king Kulveer Ranger on the challenges of open data

However, he accepts that government sometimes struggles to keep
up with the pace of change. "Because digital industries move so
quickly, if we don't respond in the same timeframe people get very
frustrated. I share that sense of frustration because I came from
industry where it was a case of 'let's just get it done'. That's
where I would ask for some patience because bureaucracies like
local government or government have to go through certain
hoops.

Ranger is particularly excited to see what developers will come
up with regards to environmental data, such as air quality, tree
canopy cover and recycling. He is also looking forward to the
imminent release of the journey planner API which was recently
released and the iBus bus countdown datasets.

When asked if he could imagine a time when the GLA might be able
to take a cut from some of the apps being developed, he says: "If
we start to talk about commercialising it we'll start to put up
barriers, just at the point when we are trying to take them down.
We don't want to run before we can walk. However, in the future,
who knows? As the model matures, maybe there could be some kind of
revenue split. I'd like to see a GLA Store, like the App
Store."

Ranger also outlined the Mayor's twelve key digital objectives
-- named the D12 (apparently not a reference to Eminem's Detroit hiphop
posse). These objectives -- which haven't yet been released --
include: connectivity, open data, digital world leadership and
mentoring SMEs.

"Open data is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the digital
economy, skills, jobs and investment. How do we improve
infrastructure, connectivity and talent and bring in more
multinationals to make London more attractive?"

One of the key digital developments that should be fostered is
greater engagement with the public via social media. He described
how he plans to ensure there are regular Ask Boris sessions on
Twitter, saying that this sort of direct interaction could
"genuinely change the face of how politicians and administrations
engage with the public." Social media could be used during
consultation processes, which usually involve the Mayor travelling
to talk directly to people in different public halls.

What's keeping him awake at night? He explains: "Your readers
probably already get all this because they've been plugged in for a
long time, but I don't want to lose track of the people who aren't
as digitally literate. We can fall into a trap of zooming ahead and
leaving a lot of people in our wake. It's about making sure we
bring those people with us."